The Trainwreck anthology revisits some of the most gripping, bizarre — and sometimes even horrifying — events that once dominated the mainstream media…
The headlines may sound familiar — “Boy Trapped in ‘UFO-Like Balloon’ Floating Over Colorado,” or “Toilets Overflowing as Stricken Ship Limps Towards Port” — but behind the sensational coverage and sound bites are complex stories, essential questions, and real people who found themselves at the centre of the chaos.
Told from their perspective, the Trainwreck series – which has launched today on Netflix – explores everything from disastrous festivals, political scandals, and media hoaxes to cult-like corporations and reality TV disasters. The first instalment, released in 2022, explored the infamous Woodstock ’99 festival, and this second offering of Trainwreck examines eight more moments in recent history.
Today’s first episode takes a look at the devastating Astroworld tragedy. In November 2021, around 50,000 music fans gathered at Houston’s NRG Park for Travis Scott’s third Astroworld music festival — the first since the COVID-19 pandemic. But event security personnel struggle to manage the large crowd, and events turn tragic when the audience pushes toward the stage for the headliner, resulting in a fatal crowd crush that became the subject of fevered speculation and condemnation in the media.
In 2023, a Houston grand jury found that no individual was criminally responsible for the deaths at Astroworld. All ten wrongful death lawsuits have been settled out of court by Live Nation, Travis Scott, and other defendants for undisclosed amounts.
The documentary Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, directed by Yemi Bamiro and co-directed and produced by Hannah Poulter, explores the disastrous event. Told through footage shot by festivalgoers, harrowing 911 calls, and interviews with survivors and families of victims, ‘the film provides an immersive look at the festival and raises questions about the accountability of artists in an era that compels them to continually amplify their shows to drive revenue.’ Netflix note.
Other episodes in the series include Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem from June 17th. In the 2010 Toronto mayoral election, firebrand city councillor Rob Ford unexpectedly throws his hat into the ring. Widely dismissed as a joke by other politicians and the media, he defies critics with a shocking victory. But his administration soon becomes a slow-motion disaster, as an avalanche of scandals and allegations of hard drug use led to an international media frenzy.
On June 24th Trainwreck: Poop Cruise joins the line up. It was supposed to be a luxury cruise: a four-day round trip from Galveston, Texas to Cozumel, Mexico. But for the 4,000+ passengers and crew on board, the reality proves catastrophically different. After an engine room fire destroys electrical cables supplying the entire ship, the boat is left drifting with no power for propulsion, refrigeration, lighting, air-conditioning, or, worst of all … flushing toilets.
Soon, raw sewage leaks all over the ship, food supplies start dwindling, and passengers begin to revolt. The cruise company races to control the fallout, but the damage is done: The media can’t get enough of the “poop cruise.”
And on July 1st it’s the turn of Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel. In the mid- 2000s, American Apparel becomes one of the United States’ most successful fashion brands, known for its colourful casual clothing, ethical production, and sexually provocative advertising campaigns. For young staffers it’s an exciting time: a chance to be part of a cult-like company revolutionizing the fashion industry, and an opportunity to learn from American Apparel’s charismatic CEO and founder, Dov Charney.
But as the brand quickly expands, the young employees begin to realise that American Apparel’s shiny surface is hiding a darker reality. Chaotic management starts to hit the company’s finances, and as problems mount and the company begins to implode.
Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy is streaming now on Netflix
